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Lizards, common care and keeping.
By Don Petty.
Lizards are one of the most commonly kept of all of the reptiles, the care and keeping of these reptiles is as diverse as the lizards are themselves. Because No single care sheet can cover every lizard This care sheet will only attempt to point out some of the common sense basics that can some times be over looked.
The first and most important thing to consider when thinking about buying or keeping a lizard is if can you provide the care that it requires throughout its life. Lizards vary from those that may only reach a few inches to those giants that may grow five feet long or more.
In order to understand how lizards live in captivity it is important to know how they live in nature. A good quality book on lizard keeping is therefore a must for anyone serious about keeping them healthy.
There are basic implements to keeping lizards that must be employed if one wishes to achieve success:
Light, is one of the basic needs for life. Without light a lizard will surely expire. But, not just any light will do, Light for lizards must be of the full-spectrum type, simular to those employed for growing plants,
Brands that offer U.V. a/b are the best.
Full spectrum light reproduces the light spectrum of U.V. which Reptiles need to assimilate calcium and especially D3. But, this type of light does not provide heated air and that is why for most “Hot” climate reptiles a spot light is also necessary, this type of light is used to provide a “hot spot” like a basking area on a rock.
Some keepers of nocturnal lizards like many Geckos may also use a Black-lite which also has U.V. (a) additionally Black-lite cannot be seen by most light hiding species and can be used so that the keepers can see them moving around at night. :O)
Water, is the stuff of life and is just as important as light to some reptiles. Even the most arid areas in the world including the Nomid Desert get some form of water, it may only be in the form of dew droplets that form on the few sparce plants that inhibit the desert or it may be in the form of the daily rains falling on to the floor of the thick rain-forests of South America or Asia. A clue on how lizards drink can be obtained from how they receive their
water in nature, Chameleons drink water dew
droplets that form on plants or on the crowns or there own heads (on some species) and thus would not recognize a water
bowl as a source of water, for some epecies, but NOT Chameleons, adding an air stone to a water bowl can entice a reptile to drink as they see the
movement of the bubbles on the surface. Rain forest species
get daily misting from rain that drips down through the leaves of the tall canopy of trees hanging overhead. All reptiles will
drink if given the opportunity and that is why they should
always have water that is changed daily.
Food Is very important and providing food properly
will greatly enhance the health of any animal. There are many methods that have proven successful for feeding reptiles and
in my opinion one of the best books on the subject is the
book The Right way to feed insect eating lizards by
Philippe de Vosjoli,
This is just one of the great books put
out by the Herpetocultural library. AVS
To briefly quote from
the book “The core principle is; YOU ARE WHAT YOUR PREY EATS'”
what Mr. deVosjoli, is saying is that because we are what
we eat, so are our pet Reptiles, and further, because they are predators they hunt for food and every time that they eat an insect they also eat what ever is in the gut of the insect
food item. This means that no one should starve the crickets or mealworms that they are to offer to their pets, because, the insects offer an opportunity for us to vitamize our reptiles. Gut contents provide many important veggies, vitamins and
minerals that the reptiles would not get other wise.
Insects and Food Items:
The following insects should be considered part of a balanced diet for omnivorous reptiles; Crickets of various sizes, mealworms regular sized and king sizes, waxworms, cockroaches, flies, spiders and kin, fruit flies and pinkie rodents, (I know that rodents are not insects but they can be beneficial to insect eating lizards as a food source). A good way to get vitamins on to an insect for quick feeding is to put the insect into a
plastic bag that has some vitamins in it and shake the bag.
Some hobbyists that want to be sure that they're pets are
eating use forceps, a good friend of mine Dr. Carol Goldberg,
feeds all of her pet reptiles and Amphibians with forceps and has had great success in insuring proper amounts of food are being consumed and that all of her specimens are feeding, the only comment that I wish to make is that I have found one
possible disadvantage which is that a few of my lizards are
rough eaters that sometimes clamp down on the tongs(forceps)
and I worry that this could cause a mouth injury.
It is important not to sub-counciuosly train our pets to bite at anything long that comes into the tank, like tongs or... a finger...
As for a feeding schedule; I recommend that people feed at least every other day and better yet, offer food DAILY!!.
Reptiles are opportunistic feeders that will eat very often
and they should have access to food. Lizards that are specialized feeders like horned lizards must eat the correct food daily to servive.
Cages for lizards should be spacious and for some lizards
should be made of plastic wire as wire allows more air to
enter. (like a giant bird aviary) Standard aquariums work
well for many species except Chameleons and Monitor lizards.
I feel that with this information in hand most anyone who is serious about caring for pet reptiles will enjoy years of successful keeping.
with patience, possible captive reproduction may lead to the eventual end of the needless deaths of wild collected and poorly understood
species of reptiles that have no chance for survival without a specialized diet and or care in captivity.
Don Petty, 1995.
Copyright Tanks Alot Reptiles@ 1995,2001.
